The WRX Effect ; Turbo, limited-slip, awd make this Subaru a super hero.(Brief Article)

In the glovebox of every Subaru WRX sold in America is an application for a free membership in the Sports Car Club of America. In any other compact four-door passenger sedan or wagon, that might be pretentious marketing overreach. In the WRX it fits like a glove. Of the 4399 WRX wagons and sedans sold from the car's March 17 launch through the end of May, more than 1000 owners have joined the SCCA. Rallying never had it so good in America.

Nor have drivers looking for a fun car that doesn't cost as much as a house and still carries some practicality. That's the WRX. In strictly marketing terms, the WRX is Subaru's tie-in with its World Rally and its SCCA Pro Rally cars. In engineering terms, the WRX is an Impreza with a turbo and some bodywork. In driving terms, the WRX is just a whole lot of fun.

The engine redlines at 7000 rpm but the tach, perhaps too proud to admit its limits, continues on up to the heady 9000 rpm. The liquid-cooled flat four has an aluminum alloy block and heads surrounding 1994 cubic centimeters of displacement. The belt-driven dual-overhead cams operate four valves per cylinder. And that hood scoop actually scoops air, for the intercooler. It's a relatively inexpensive and very efficient unit. The engine produces 227 peak horsepower at 6000 rpm, but, as with many turbos, you pay the price for the extra top end with a little bit of turbo lag at the low end. All this in a car that weighs just 3085 pounds with the five-speed manual, a mere 80 pounds more than the stock Impreza.

As you might expect, that made for fast times at the test track. Zero to 60 mph came up in 5.82 seconds. When you look down the list of cars we've tested to see where that fits in, it gives you an idea of just how quick the WRX is: The Porsche Boxster S got 5.74 seconds, the Audi S4 got 5.62 seconds and the Honda S2000 got 5.75 seconds. Granted, the WRX is not as nicely integrated as those much more expensive cars, nor does it carry their cachet, but it can run with them when the light turns green.

It is slightly less impressive when the light turns red, though. Four-wheel disc brakes with twin-piston calipers clamping 11.4-inch front

rotors haul it down from 60 mph to zero in 122 feet. Most of the cars we just ...